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Texas: 3rd-Grade Standards

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ß113.14. Social Studies, Grade 3, Beginning with School Year 2011-2012

Introduction

In Grade 3, students learn how diverse individuals have changed their communities and world. Students study the effects inspiring heroes have had on communities, past and present. Students learn about the lives of heroic men and women who made important choices, overcame obstacles, sacrificed for the betterment of others, and embarked on journeys that resulted in new ideas, new inventions, new technologies, and new communities. Students expand their knowledge through the identification and study of people who made a difference, influenced public policy and decision making, and participated in resolving issues that are important to all people. Throughout Grade 3, students develop an understanding of the economic, cultural, and scientific contributions made by individuals.

To support the teaching of the essential knowledge and skills, the use of a variety of rich material such as nonfiction texts, primary sources, biographies, folklore, poetry, songs, and artworks is encouraged. Motivating resources are available from museums, historical sites, presidential libraries, online tours, and local and state preservation societies.

The eight strands of the essential knowledge and skills for social studies are intended to be integrated for instructional purposes. Skills listed in the social studies skills strand in subsection (b) of this section should be incorporated into the teaching of all essential knowledge and skills for social studies. A greater depth of understanding of complex content material can be attained when integrated social studies content from the various disciplines and critical-thinking skills are taught together. Statements that contain the word "including" reference content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase "such as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.

Students identify the role of the U.S. free enterprise system within the parameters of this course and understand that this system may also be referenced as capitalism or the free market system.

Throughout social studies in Kindergarten-Grade 12, students build a foundation in history; geography; economics; government; citizenship; culture; science, technology, and society; and social studies skills. The content, as appropriate for the grade level or course, enables students to understand the importance of patriotism, function in a free enterprise society, and appreciate the basic democratic values of our state and nation as referenced in the Texas Education Code (TEC), §28.002(h).

Students understand that a constitutional republic is a representative form of government whose representatives derive their authority from the consent of the governed, serve for an established tenure, and are sworn to uphold the constitution.

State and federal laws mandate a variety of celebrations and observances, including Celebrate Freedom Week.

Each social studies class shall include, during Celebrate Freedom Week as provided under the TEC, §29.907, or during another full school week as determined by the board of trustees of a school district, appropriate instruction concerning the intent, meaning, and importance of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, in their historical contexts. The study of the Declaration of Independence must include the study of the relationship of the ideas expressed in that document to subsequent American history, including the relationship of its ideas to the rich diversity of our people as a nation of immigrants, the American Revolution, the formulation of the U.S. Constitution, and the abolitionist movement, which led to the Emancipation Proclamation and the women's suffrage movement.

Each school district shall require that, during Celebrate Freedom Week or other week of instruction prescribed under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, students in Grades 3-12 study and recite the following text: "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness--That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed."

Students identify and discuss how the actions of U.S. citizens and the local, state, and federal governments have either met or failed to meet the ideals espoused in the founding documents.

Knowledge and skills

History.
The student understands how individuals, events, and ideas have influenced the history of various communities. The student is expected to:

a. describe how individuals, events, and ideas have changed communities, past and present;

b. identify individuals, including Pierre-Charles L'Enfant, Benjamin Banneker, and Benjamin Franklin, who have helped to shape communities; and

c. describe how individuals, including Daniel Boone, Christopher Columbus, the Founding Fathers, and Juan de Oñate, have contributed to the expansion of existing communities or to the creation of new communities.

History.
The student understands common characteristics of communities, past and present. The student is expected to:

a. identify reasons people have formed communities, including a need for security, religious freedom, law, and material well-being;

b. identify ways in which people in the local community and other communities meet their needs for government, education, communication, transportation, and recreation; and

c. compare ways in which various other communities meet their needs.

History.
The student understands how various sources provide information about the past and present. The student is expected to:

a. use vocabulary related to chronology, including past, present, and future times;

b. create and interpret timelines; and

c. apply the terms year, decade, and century to describe historical times.

Geography.
The student understands how humans adapt to variations in the physical environment. The student is expected to:

b. create a simple budget that allocates money for spending, saving, and donating.

Economics.
The student understands the concept of the free enterprise system. The student is expected to:

a. define and identify examples of scarcity;

b. explain the impact of scarcity on the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services; and

c. explain the concept of a free market as it relates to the U.S. free enterprise system.

Economics.
The student understands how businesses operate in the U.S. free enterprise system. The student is expected to:

Government.
The student understands the purpose of governments. The student is expected to:

a. identify examples of how a simple business operates;

b. explain how supply and demand affect the price of a good or service;

c. explain how the cost of production and selling price affect profits;

d. explain how government regulations and taxes impact consumer costs; and

e. identify individuals, past and present, including Henry Ford and other entrepreneurs in the community such as Mary Kay Ash, Wallace Amos, Milton Hershey, and Sam Walton, who have started new businesses.

Government.
The student understands the basic structure and functions of various levels of government. The student is expected to:

a. describe the basic structure of government in the local community, state, and nation;

b. identify local, state, and national government officials and explain how they are chosen;

c. identify services commonly provided by local, state, and national governments; and

d. explain how local, state, and national government services are financed.

Government.
The student understands important ideas in historical documents at various levels of government. The student is expected to:

a. identify the purposes of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, including the Bill of Rights; and

b. describe and explain the importance of the concept of "consent of the governed" as it relates to the functions of local, state, and national government.

Citizenship.
The student understands the impact of individual and group decisions on communities in a constitutional republic. The student is expected to:

a. give examples of community changes that result from individual or group decisions;

b. identify examples of actions individuals and groups can take to improve the community; and

c. identify examples of nonprofit and/or civic organizations such as the Red Cross and explain how they serve the common good.

Culture.
The student understands ethnic and/or cultural celebrations of the local community and other communities. The student is expected to:

a. explain the significance of various ethnic and/or cultural celebrations in the local community and other communities; and

b. compare ethnic and/or cultural celebrations in the local community with other communities.

Culture.
The student understands the role of heroes in shaping the culture of communities, the state, and the nation. The student is expected to:

a. identify and compare the heroic deeds of state and national heroes, including Hector P. Garcia and James A. Lovell, and other individuals such as Harriet Tubman, Juliette Gordon Low, Todd Beamer, Ellen Ochoa, John "Danny" Olivas, and other contemporary heroes; and

b. identify and analyze the heroic deeds of individuals, including military and first responders such as the Four Chaplains.

Culture.
The student understands the importance of writers and artists to the cultural heritage of communities. The student is expected to:

a. identify various individual writers and artists such as Kadir Nelson, Tomie dePaola, and Phillis Wheatley and their stories, poems, statues, and paintings and other examples of cultural heritage from various communities; and

b. explain the significance of various individual writers and artists such as Carmen Lomas Garza, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Bill Martin Jr. and their stories, poems, statues, and paintings and other examples of cultural heritage to various communities.

Science, technology, and society.
The student understands how individuals have created or invented new technology and affected life in various communities, past and present. The student is expected to:

a. identify scientists and inventors, including Jonas Salk, Maria Mitchell, and others who have discovered scientific breakthroughs or created or invented new technology such as Cyrus McCormick, Bill Gates, and Louis Pasteur; and

b. identify the impact of scientific breakthroughs and new technology in computers, pasteurization, and medical vaccines on various communities.

Social studies skills.
The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information acquired from a variety of valid sources, including electronic technology. The student is expected to:

a. research information, including historical and current events, and geographic data, about the community and world, using a variety of valid print, oral, visual, and Internet resources;

b. sequence and categorize information.

c. interpret oral, visual, and print material by identifying the main idea, distinguishing between fact and opinion, identifying cause and effect, and comparing and contrasting;

d. use various parts of a source, including the table of contents, glossary, and index as well as keyword Internet searches, to locate information;

Social studies skills.
The student uses problem-solving and decision-making skills, working independently and with others, in a variety of settings. The student is expected to:

a. use a problem-solving process to identify a problem, gather information, list and consider options, consider advantages and disadvantages, choose and implement a solution, and evaluate the effectiveness of the solution; and

b. use a decision-making process to identify a situation that requires a decision, gather information, generate options, predict outcomes, take action to implement a decision, and reflect on the effectiveness of the decision.

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